Questions for personal reflection and group discussion:
Read Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV):
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- This section of Matthew’s gospel has three parables in a row about what Jesus’s followers should be doing during Jesus’s absence between his first and second comings. The vast majority of people were not ready for Jesus’s first coming 2,000 years ago. How ready do you think people are for his next coming? Explain your answer.
- There are two groups of people in this parable: the master (that’s Jesus), and the servants (that’s all of Jesus’s followers both then and now). The master (in verse 14) entrusted his property to his servants to steward for him. What has Jesus entrusted to us that He expects us to use well for His purposes until He comes?
- Why do you think there are different amounts of talents/money given to each person? What is Jesus communicating with this?
- From what we can see in the parable, what seemed to be the main factor influencing each servant’s response to the master’s assignment?
- Servants who do the master’s will are rewarded in this parable. What parallels are there to the rewards that faithful Christ-followers will receive?
- What does Jesus mean when he says that our reward will be to “enter into the joy” of our master? Discuss what that joy is.
- What happens to the guy who didn’t handle well what was entrusted to him, and what is Jesus communicating here?
- Jim shared about a group of men he was part of, who were considering what they wanted to do with the second half of their lives. Reflect on what you might want to do in the second half of your life.
- How can we prepare and be ready for Jesus’s second coming? Talk about how you could live this out practically in your life right now.
- What did you sense God saying to you through this passage and this message?
